Questions about Mercruiser 4.0 liter

[Zapit2um]

The wife and I will be test driving a pontoon boat this weekend that has a Mercruiser 4.0 liter inboard. What should I be looking for or watching out for during our test drive. Seller says that the motor is new and has approx 12 hours on it. Apparently the boat was refurbished at a professional boat shop before he bought it. All new seats, carpet and vinyl as well as a motor. Also when inspecting the outdrive what should I be looking for? One more question, what horsepower is the 4.0 liter? Thanks!

 

[Bondo]

Re: Questions about Mercruiser 4.0 liter

The wife and I will be test driving a pontoon boat this weekend that has a Mercruiser 4.0 liter inboard. What should I be looking for or watching out for during our test drive. Seller says that the motor is new and has approx 12 hours on it. Apparently the boat was refurbished at a professional boat shop before he bought it. All new seats, carpet and vinyl as well as a motor. Also when inspecting the outdrive what should I be looking for? One more question, what horsepower is the 4.0 liter? Thanks!

Ayuh,... There Ain't no 4.0l, so yer question is Unanswerable....

'n, I'd think it's an I/O, 'n Not an inboard too...

 

[Zapit2um]

Re: Questions about Mercruiser 4.0 liter

Not familiar with I/O can you elaborate as to what that is? The owner told me it was a 4.0 perhaps it's the 4.3. He doesn't seem to know much about the boat. He swears it's a Fisher 341 pontoon but I can find no such animal, says that's what it says on the title. All I can come up with is a Fisher 241, since it's a 24 foot boat I think that may be what it is.

Thanks again

 

[Don S]

Re: Questions about Mercruiser 4.0 liter

Post some pictures of the engine and drive. If you don't know what it is, it's impossible for us to tell you what to look for other than some very basic stuff.
Like make sure it gets to full wide open throttle rpm, that it doesn't over heat or smoke, and that there are no abnormal noises.

All the engines used by Mercruisers are good when new. What that particular one is like no one really knows.

 

[Zapit2um]

Re: Questions about Mercruiser 4.0 liter

ok.. I'll take some pics when we take the test drive on sunday. Was just wanting to know if there were any visual signs of problems, somthing an experienced person may know to look for.

Thanks!

 

[ezmobee]

Re: Questions about Mercruiser 4.0 liter

I personally wouldn't want any parts of an I/O on a toon.

 

[Zapit2um]

Re: Questions about Mercruiser 4.0 liter

I personally wouldn't want any parts of an I/O on a toon.

Why is that?

 

[ezmobee]

Re: Questions about Mercruiser 4.0 liter

Why is that?

There's a lot of moving parts between the crank and prop that require maintenance and/or can break on an I/O that just simply don't exist on an outboard. Many people like the look of an I/O on a boat versus an outboard. Cleaner transom, no motor in the way for fishing or watersports. Toons were pretty much designed from the get go for an outboard and aren't used much for watersports (other than light tubing) anyway. The motor is totally off the back and out of the way. To fit an I/O they have to move it up into the deck space and usually big a big goofy structure around it. Plus they are a good bit heavier.

This is totally a personal opinion. A lot of I/O guys think an outboard powered bowrider/ski boat looks silly. I personally think an I/O toon looks ridiculous. It's a combo that just never made sense to me, like a solution looking for a problem.

 

[Silvertip]

Re: Questions about Mercruiser 4.0 liter

I suppose if you do not have to work on the boat yourself, the choice of power (outboard or I/O) doesn't matter. But think about this. The engine on an I/O powered pontoon sits very low in the rear. That compartment must be water tight and since it is where it is, you have an awful time reaching anything should you need to when on the water. Under the best of conditions, I/O powered boats are not easy to work on. I/O powered pontoons are even worse. I repair my own stuff but I would not give a minutes thought to an i/o powered pontoon. One more reason for this is that if you need to ever repower this boat you are stuck with the exact same power plant you currently have. If you need to repower an outboard powered pontoon you can install any engine you like from any manufacturer.

 

[81 Checkmate]

Re: Questions about Mercruiser 4.0 liter

Ill chime in on this one...... We have a Fisher 241 pontoon with a I/O - 4 cylinder - 3.0 Mercuiser.

If i had a choice i would not buy one......
1. - They are very hard to work on....Need very long arms to reach anything in the motor compartment. A little guy can get right in there. But still very tight!
2. They do take up space on the rear...but its not as bad looking as you would think...... we have a nice sun pad/deck on the rear that has storage on both sides.
3. All the new style pontoons that have an OB have a ladder on the back to get in/out of water...... which is very nice....we have to use the side gate!
4. The outdrive is always in the water if it kept in the water.....No biggie but gets all grunge up over the summer.

Pro's - It runs very well and pushes the 24 footer with ease....And i can work on car engines, so i am ok with it.

We had no choice... it came in a pakage deal... Boat,house and dock.

Good luck!

 

[Zapit2um]

Re: Questions about Mercruiser 4.0 liter

Interesting discussion, thanks for all the input. 81 checkmate, the boat we are looking at is a 2001 fisher 241 with a 4.3 liter engine. We test drive it Sunday so I will check out the location of the motor with maintenance in mind. We will not be keeping this in the water full time so I am not worried about the outdrive getting grunged up. The seller swears it's a fisher 341 because that's what it states on the title but I can find no such animal on google, only the 241. Any thoughts on that?

Thanks for all the input!

 

[QC]

Re: Questions about Mercruiser 4.0 liter

If Fisher nomenclature is consistent a 341 would be a 34 foot boat. There are bigger ones out there, but that's a big arse 'toon!!! I think you woulda noticed

 

[Don S]

Re: Questions about Mercruiser 4.0 liter

I'm going to move this over to the Pontoon forum, perhaps there will be more information there.

 

[Zapit2um]

Re: Questions about Mercruiser 4.0 liter

Yea, that's what I thought QC. It's no 34 foot boat for sure. Now I'm a bit paranoid about getting a toon with an I/O. ha ha.. Wife sure liked it but then she won't be the one turning wrenches on it. LOL..

 

[81 Checkmate]

Re: Questions about Mercruiser 4.0 liter

34 footer...way to large to be loading and unloading all the time. A 24ft is bad enough.....

What are your plans...use with the pontoon? Weekends, fishing, tubing, A bunch a little ones aboard - ect?

 

[Zapit2um]

Re: Questions about Mercruiser 4.0 liter

Our plans are to use it for fishing and family recreation. It's not a 34 footer, I know that much, so either the seller is not reading the title correctly or there is a typo on the title. There are a couple more we may look at but the motor HP has me wondering if it will be enough to pull a tube which is one of the things we would like to do. What would be the minimum HP for pulling tubes with say 6 people on board for a 24' pontoon and for a 22' pontoon. We found a 24 footer with a 50hp suzuki 4 stroke and we found a 22 footer with a 50hp Johnson 4 stroke. Would either of these boats pull a tube?

 

[ezmobee]

Re: Questions about Mercruiser 4.0 liter

Literally anything will pull a tube. Heck we've done it with a rowboat and a 4HP. The question would be how much HP is needed for it to be fun......I'd say probably 70-90+.

 

[Silvertip]

Re: Questions about Mercruiser 4.0 liter

No pontoon with a 50 HP will pull a tube or any other water toy with any degree of "authority" and the kids will not be happy. On a 20 - 24 footer a 90 HP would be absolute minimum and something over that more desirable. Keep in mind also that if you are looking at used boats that there will be a mix of two-stroke and four-stroke motors to look at. Newer pontoons will tend to have four-stroke motors while older will almost always be two-strokes.

 

[81 Checkmate]

Re: Questions about Mercruiser 4.0 liter

I can say our pontoon will pull a tube all day long.......not enough umph to pull a skier....

If that has a V-6 in it....no problems with pulling a tube...maybe 2 at one time?

I would think a 50 hp is to small......not an outboard person, so not for sure! I would think a 100 hp or better on a 24 ft with 6 people.

What you have to look at is..
1. Money being spent...to what you are getting.
2. Condition of a used boat.....for money being spent.... year has nothing to do with it, its all in how its be taken care of.
3. If you can turn a wrench (DIY) then the I/O would be ok......but if you have to pay a dealer for repairs/maintance it will be costly...unless money is no object.

 

[rogerwa]

Re: Questions about Mercruiser 4.0 liter

One thing that has not been pointed out is that while the output of an i/o and an outboard is in HP, you cannot necessarily compare them side to side as an I/O is a lot heavier than a comparable outboard, so your effective output is less. 2-stroke OBs are the lightest per HP, followed by 4-stoke OBs, and then the i/o.

I am not poo-pooing the I/O, its just something to keep in mind. An i/o could be very attractive in a pontoon as it will be quiet and smooth.

On my toons that I have owned, I have always tried to minimize weight. The butt end is always the heaviest as the ladies want to sit back there either on the sunpad or under the bimini.